Roy Williams Monday Quotes

Andy Britt

01/22/2007

North Carolina coach Roy Williams spoke on Monday during the weekly ACC Coaches teleconference. Check out some of what he had to say...

Opening remarks -

Well, it was a good win for us Saturday night versus Georgia Tech. We were good defensively except for the last three minutes. We were good offensively as well. I do think they're a good team that does a nice job defensively and puts pressure on you. They have some youngsters who can put the ball on the floor and score inside and can shoot outside. So, we felt very good about it. We didn't feel like we played quite as well in the second half defensively, but as the same time it's college basketball in the ACC, and that other team always has a lot to do with how you're playing.

On the development of the rotation -

It started out a little trial and error. Right now the only hesitancy at anytime is trying to remember, ‘Can ‘Q' [Quentin Thomas] play tonight? Can Bobby [Frasor] play tonight?' It hasn't been a problem at anytime. There have been sometimes I've managed it better than in other games. Sometimes I haven't managed it as well. It hasn't been a thing that's been a huge factor for me. It's not something I lose any sleep over. I lose sleep over how well or how badly we play, but not the substitution pattern. Some of it (is determined by) the flow of the game, but some of it I do think about.

Someday I may get a chart and find out how many substitutions that I make and how many the team makes. I think it's about 50-50. During the course of the time, certain guys are going to go in for other guys that play the same position. So I really don't think too much about, ‘I've got to get Deon [Thompson] in the game in the first half.' The players are going to take care of that with the tired signal.

On the 20th anniversary of the three-point shot in college -

There was a great deal of criticism. People were surprised that all of a sudden it was in our game. The coaches have a problem not participating enough in the rules survey, in the rules meetings, then scream like crazy when something comes out. They didn't expect it, but should have if they had been participating in those things. I think that's the biggest outcry I ever heard.

At the same time, I think it's great for college basketball. I think our line is where it should be. If it were to move, it shouldn't move any more than back nine inches to the international line. It's where it should be for us now, and I hope it stays there. I hope the lane stays the way it is.

How has it changed defensive principles -

Well, it's changed it some. There's no question, if a guy's a really good shooter, you don't want to give him an open look. You don't want to give it to him if it's for two, now that it's for three, you want to give it to him even less. Defensively you have to make a decision if you're going to go out and play the guy. The three is not a real good shot if its guarded. I think it brings people out. For us, we've always been a pressure defensive team, we've always wanted to go out and play people. So it has not changed my defensive philosophy as maybe it has some other people who were sagging defensive team or a positional defensive team as opposed to a pressure on the ball and denying kind of team.

On playing a big non-conference game (i.e. Arizona on Saturday) during the conference season -

I'm sort of sitting on the fence. I don't like stepping out of conference, especially for as big a game as this. But then again, it's a national type television game. It's against Arizona, who I respect a great deal. I respect and truly like Lute Olsen. So it has some positives as well. If you're just going to be concerned about how you're doing in conference, then it's not what you want to do. But we do try to look at a bigger picture. Nationally televised game against somebody like Arizona is going to get a lot of attention. The fact that you have to play them in Arizona is not quite as attractive as playing them home. But we had that last year and they had to travel. Again, I have mixed emotions, but it must be OK, or I wouldn't continually do it. We did it with Connecticut my first two years here, and now we're doing it with Arizona. When I was at Kansas we did it as well.

On Frasor's condition -

As you know, he didn't practice or play last week. The trainer and I will meet this afternoon and decide if he's going to try to practice some this week. The whole thing with Bobby is he's just got to feel that his foot is not sore. And we won't know that until he gets here this afternoon before practice. He's becoming the best form shooter I've ever seen. He goes out and shoots the ball against the boards for five minutes and goes and sits down. That's his entire workout for the day, except getting on the bike and pretending he's going really hard to impress the coaches.